


It's Cold In My Veins (I'm Below Freezing)

by KendricksDanvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dancer Kara Danvers, F/F, Fluff, I mean a LOT, Lots of Angst, Romance, Swan Lake - Freeform, except lena kinda has powers, kara has a dark past, l corp, lena can see people's pasts, the ballet fic nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29243703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KendricksDanvers/pseuds/KendricksDanvers
Summary: "who's the blonde one that plays the main, uh, swan?" Lena had been fixed on her throughout the entirety of the first half, a familiar yet different pull clutching at every particle of her being."Her name is Kara Danvers. She's danced with the Bolshoi AND the Paris Opera ballet, so god knows what shes doing dancing here in National City, I heard it's not a good reason though.""huh, how strange."ORKara has a chilling secret. Lena can see into people's pasts.Kara is a principle dancer with the National City Ballet. Lena has no interest in ballet, until...
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 12
Kudos: 81





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiiii this has been brewing in my head for roughly a month now and I've spent so much time doing planning and research, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating this!
> 
> ALSO super massive shoutout to my beautiful bestie Vee, i would not be able to do this without your tremendous help! love u darling <3
> 
> Playlist for the fic: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2IhSjdveRcj504HePOKA7N?si=pCvt98TwT4Cjda7iZwXXsg

**_"Or maybe you were the ocean,_ **   
**_When I was just a stone"_ **

\- Black Flies, Ben Howard

* * *

Lena woke with a start, to the sound of something hitting her window. She tried to sit up quickly but a heavy bolt of pain ripped through her head and the light burned her eyes as she attempted to find the source of the disturbance. Instead, she flopped back onto her couch, closed her eyes and took three deep breaths. _That’s the last time I get drunk with Sam on a work night._ She thought.

This time she opened one eye at a time and blinked slowly to allow her eyes to adjust to the harsh morning light, before she reached across the coffee table to pick up her phone and check the time.

**6:32am**

She still had two hours before she needed to be at work for her first meeting. She got up slowly and shuffled towards the big floor to ceiling window, a small wing shaped smudge on the glass confirmed her suspicions, a bird had flown into it. She hoped it hadn’t been too severely injured.

Lena looked over the slow and silent city in awe, she’d been living in national city for three months and was sure she’d never get tired of the view from her 9th level apartment. She had moved here to take over Luthor Corp from her older brother Lex who had become addicted to drugs, tried to blow up this city and the next, gone completely off the rails and landed himself 6 life sentences. She made her way into the bathroom and stared at her reflection. She was wearing a large dark blue t-shirt that had the MIT logo in thick white print across the front of her chest and grey sweatpants. Her hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders, and its usual sleek shine has been replaced by a thick frizz, mussed by deep sleep and sticking up in multiple directions. Lena tried to run her fingers through it but it got her nowhere, so she pulled it up into a less-than-attractive messy bun, took two aspirin from the bathroom cabinet and swallowed them dry.

She stared at herself once again. Her eyelids were heavy, her lips were dry, and she was quite sure that the bags under her eyes could qualify as designer.

_Nothing that a shower and a spot of makeup can’t-_

Her train of thought was interrupted as her stomach let out an almighty growl, and she looked down at her shirt-covered abdomen.

_Okay, breakfast first._

However, when Lena had moved to the kitchen and opened the fridge, she found it bare, except for a half empty packet of mushrooms and an old apricot yoghurt. A faint memory from the previous night swam in her head, of Sam in her office begging her to do her shopping tomorrow instead, of Lena reluctantly agreeing, and of the pair of them excitedly heading off towards their favourite bar. She huffed in frustration. _Never. Again._

Lena walked into her room, quickly shed her sweatpants and pulled on a pair of tight blue jeans. She threw a plain black hoodie over her t-shirt, shoved her feet into a comfy pair of sneakers, grabbed her phone and her keys, then left her apartment and walked to the convenience store on the corner of her street.

\---

She picked up a carton of six eggs and a packet of bacon, and pulled her phone out of her pocket to text Sam as she walked towards the cashier.

**Lena Luthor: My head hurts.**

**Lena Luthor: You owe me.**

**Lena Luthor: Big time.**

As she was checking her twitter feed, her phone chimed with a response from her friend, but before she could read it her entire body collided with that of a tall blonde woman, wearing sweatpants made of a weird material, and carrying a shopping basket of fruit, protein bars and a couple of chocolate bars. Lena was instantly annoyed at the carelessness of this tall stranger, and she felt the Luthor ice creeping up her spine and straitening her shoulders.

“Careful! Can’t you see I’m holding eggs?” she said, but as she looked up at the blonde, she felt a familiar pull inside her and electricity tickled the ends of her fingers, Lena quickly dropped her head again and stepped around her.

“Well maybe if you weren’t staring at your phone you might have noticed me.” The blonde bit back.

Lena scoffed but didn’t reply, and she took her items up to the till to be scanned. _why now?_ She thought. _Why her?_

As she left, she could feel the lady glaring at her, but she ignored it. Truth be told she knew that technically what the blonde had said was true, if Lena hadn’t been so distracted by her phone then it never would’ve happened. Still she needn’t have been so rude about it, so therefore Lena refused to give her the satisfaction of an apology.

By the time she’d reached her front door she had all but forgotten the encounter, her brain now filled with thoughts of L Corp finances she needed to remember to sort.

Lena quickly cooked and ate her bacon and eggs (not all six of them, that would be excessive), showered and got ready, then set off for work at 8:00am.

\---

She was in and out of meetings all morning, and they ran smoothly which worked in Lena’s favour. Not that she expected any less, she was known to be unmatched in the boardroom, and she didn’t underestimate her own power and authority. Now though she was sitting in her office, during what is supposed to be her lunch break, but instead she was working through a finances spreadsheet.

Out the corner of her eye she saw the screen of her phone light up with a text notification. It was from Sam.

**Sam Arias: where are you? Are you busy rn?**

**Sam Arias: ???**

**Lena Luthor: yes, I’m busy**

**Lena Luthor: I have an extremely exciting spreadsheet.**

**Sam Arias: Lena…**

**Sam Arias: its your lunchbreak**

**Lena Luthor: no rest for the wicked ;)**

**Sam Arias:** **nope**

**Sam Arias: im not accepting that**

**Sam Arias: you’ll overwork yourself!**

**Lena Luthor: Sam darling its fine**

**Lena Luthor: a few late nights wont hurt, you know im trying to get L Corp back on track after my brother.**

**Sam Arias: Lena you need to take a break.**

Lena paused and stared at her phone, she wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, but she felt quite certain that she didn’t want to take a break, that only meant more and more paperwork piling up that she would rather take care of as its given to her. However she didn’t need to think of a response as another message from Sam appeared on the screen.

**Sam Arias: Oh! I know!**

**Sam Arias: tonight is the opening night of Swan Lake at the National City Ballet, Ruby and I are going and you should definitely join us.**

**Lena Luthor: I don’t know, ive got so much work to do tonight, and ballet isn’t really my thing.**

**Sam Arias: one night off Lena, I promise you’ll love it**

**Sam Arias: pleeeaaasssseeee !!**

**Sam Arias: also if you come then we can sit in your box… ;)**

Lena chuckled. Being the CEO of a fortune 500 company certainly had its perks.

**Lena Luthor: Fine, I will come with you**

**Lena Luthor: but only because I know how much Ruby loves it up in the box.**

**Sam Arias: that’s my girl :))**

Lena rolled her eyes but smiled down at her phone, then she clicked it off and placed it face down on her desk, returning her attention to her PC.

\---

A few hours later Lena, Sam and Ruby were seated comfortably in the theatre.

“thanks for letting us use the box auntie Lena! The view from here is so much better!” Ruby wiggled in her seat with excitement.

“you’re welcome my darling. Say, who's the blonde one that plays the main, uh, swan?" Lena had been fixed on her throughout the entirety of the first half, a familiar yet different pull clutching at every particle of her being.

“the swan is called Princess Odette, Lena. And the dancer is called Kara Danvers.”

“Kara Danvers is Ruby’s idol.” Sam said, grinning at her daughter.

“Ah yes, I seem to recall an abundance of posters on your bedroom walls? Seems like _someone_ has a little crush.” Lena laughed.

Ruby’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. “Kara is the greatest dancer in the whole world! She’s worked with the Bolshoi and the Paris Opera Ballet!”

“yes, so god knows what she’s doing dancing here in National City,” Sam lowered her voice, “I heard it wasn’t a good reason.”

_Huh, that’s strange, Lena had sensed something from the dancer, maybe it was this._

“I don’t even care why she’s here, I just cant believe I actually get to see her!” her face went even redder, but this time with sheer happiness, “did you know she plays the black swan too?”

“really? Isn’t that tiring?” Lena was equally shocked and impressed, she was sure one part was hard enough work, you must have to be incredibly strong to play two main roles.

“that’s just how its always done.”

“but doesn’t it get confusing?”

“Lena love, it makes a lot more sense if you just watch it and pay attention.” Sam chimed in rolling her eyes.

“hmm, maybe it would be easier if we had ice cream, what do you think Rubes?” Lena winked at the brunette next to her and her eyes lit up.

“yes! I love ice cream!”

Lena chose mint choc chip and Ruby chose chocolate for herself, and strawberry for her mom.

The three of them ate their ice creams in comfortable silence until the curtain was raised and the second half began.

Lena could not keep her eyes off Kara Danvers.

Her beautiful long limbs, delicate face and graceful movement occupied Lena’s mind for the rest of the night, and if she fell asleep to dreams of a specific tall blonde woman dancing round her head, well…

… nobody had to know.

* * *

Kara woke to the sound of her alarm clock on her nightstand.

**6:30am**

She had an hour until rehearsal started. She sat up and stretched her arms high above her head, feeling the familiar popping and cracking of her shoulders and back as her body came alive like a glowstick. Her shoulders felt slightly heavy, but the rest of her body felt warm and awake.

She climbed out of bed with ease and padded barefoot into her bathroom for a shower. She stood under the showerhead, taking a minute to let the warm water slide over her freckled skin, and warm her up from head to toe before she quickly washed her hair.

When Kara’s hair was dry, she twisted it into a perfectly neat low bun and secured it with bobby pins and a blonde hair net, making sure to flatten any flyaways with hairspray. She dressed in white tights and a simple black leotard with an open back. Over the top of that she wore black trash bag pants, a white tank top and a khaki green vintage Nike sweater she’d bought from a thrift store last week.

She then stuffed three pairs of pointe shoes into her duffel bag, along with more spare bobby pins, a giant bottle of water, her phone and two library books. Kara slipped her feet into a pair of black sneakers, grabbed her keys and was out of her front door by 7:00am.

She decided to stop a corner store that was 10 minutes away from the studio, so she could grab some snacks. She chose lots of fresh fruit, some energy protein bars and two chocolate bars to keep her sugar levels up. Kara made a mental note to grab a Big Belly Burger at lunch time.

As she headed towards the till, a shorter dark-haired lady wearing skinny jeans and a hoodie, with her hair a mess, and who seemed to be paying more attention to her phone than her surroundings, walked straight into Kara.

Before Kara could even express her annoyance at the lack of special awareness, the woman stiffened.

“Careful! Can’t you see I’m holding eggs?” she grumbled and gave Kara a fleeting glare before looking down again. 

“Well maybe if you weren’t staring at your phone you might have noticed me.” Kara bit back, her tone cold.

The stranger scoffed but didn’t reply and walked to the till to pay for her items.

As she left Kara glared angrily at her back, then stepped forward to pass her items to the cashier.

Kara looked at her phone and noticed she had only 6 minutes to get to the studio. Fortunately, she was tall, and so her large strides and fast pace meant she arrived on time, much to the relief of the choreographer Alex, who also happened to be her adoptive big sister.

All thoughts of the earlier encounter had entirely left her mind.

\---

Rehearsal was long and hard. One of her pairs of pointe shoes was already dead. Kara’s body ached and yet at the same time every inch of her thrummed with energy. Tonight, was the opening night of Swan Lake, her first show was in a few hours and she was beyond excited.

\---

The music started and she felt it flow through her veins. Her bones all but vibrated as she began her first steps on stage. Every moment was like muscle memory for her, having spent months in the studio dancing to the point of breaking.

She danced with everything she had, being on stage was her favourite thing in the world, it was an escape. Ballet allowed her to clear her mind of everything negative and just focus on floating with the music.

Towards the end of the first half, she looked up and noticed people sitting in the Luthor box. One of them being an incredibly pale woman with raven hair.

_Strange. Lex Luthor is in jail and I don’t think he was a wife, or a child. I wonder who that is._

However, she didn’t let herself wonder for long, she’d likely never see the lady again. She was once again swept up in the music and before long, was making her way off stage for intermission.

Kara danced perfectly throughout the second half, she always worked incredibly well with her partner Barry Allen.

Barry was playing Prince Siegfried. He was tall and lanky, he had fluffy brunette hair and, despite his thin gangly appearance, was the strongest dance partner that Kara had ever had. He can lift her off the floor with smooth ease as though she weighed no more than a feather, and Kara trusts him with her life.

Trust is something she’s struggled with since she was a teenager, and she doesn’t take it lightly. The only other people in her life that she truly trusts are her sister Alex, and her adoptive mother Eliza.

\---

When Kara got home, she had another shower, turning the heat right up so it’d soften her muscles a bit. Her feet were slightly sore, and her body was heavy with tiredness. She flopped into her king-sized bed, pulled her duvet tightly around her shoulders until only her head was poking out, and then snaked an arm out to open Netflix on her laptop and watch The Wizard of Oz.

Eventually her eyes dropped shut, and she melted into a warm content sleep.


	2. ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little bit of backstory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this is so late, my mental health has been at an all time low and ive stuggled finding the motivation to literally do anything.  
> anyway hope you enjoy, thank you for all the love on the first chapter! im blown away <3  
> p.s. another thank you to my lovely Vee because she keeps me going :)

_**"Babe, there's something tragic about you  
Something so magic about you  
Don't you agree?"** _

\- From Eden, Hozier

* * *

***10 years ago***

Lena and her girlfriend Andrea were on their way to an expensive Italian restaurant in the middle of Metropolis City called ‘Evviva La Ciccia’

It was Lena’s eighteenth birthday and the two of them were celebrating by going out on a date. They had been dating for little over three years now, Lena had never in her life felt more loved by someone else, and more in love and she wanted to feel this way for the rest of her life.

This restaurant was the most beautiful place Lena had ever seen. It had an explicitly grand ambience, the servers radiated a warm, inviting aura and the candle lit tables were enclose from two sides with thick stone pillars swirling up towards the tall ceilings that were wrapped in golden shining fairy lights.

Once they were settled and had ordered their drinks, a waiter brought over two immaculate, large menus.

As Lena opened her menu, her eyes widened in response. Every single dish looked and sounded like heaven.

“I think I’m gonna order the pasta with the prawns.” Lena looked up at Andrea in shock.

“Andrea are you mad? you don’t even _like_ prawns darling” she said it calmly, but her eyes twinkled and she grinned at her girlfriend.

“Well yeah, on their own, but the sauce sounds really good!” Andrea laughed with Lena.

“Don’t do it, you’ll regret it on your first mouthful.”

“Hm, maybe you’re right. my girlfriend is so wise!” she winked at Lena and reached across the table to hold Lena’s hand.

“One of us has to be.” Lena replied with a smirk, before taking a long sip of her wine and looking up at the ceiling.

Andrea scoffed, “Rude!” and swatted at Lena’s hand light heartedly.

Lena and Andrea both ordered huge plates of some fancy expensive pasta and the taste was immense. They drank wine and chatted for the whole evening. Lena felt warm and content and so in love.

When they were looking over the dessert menu Lena registered how Andrea had been fidgety all evening. But she put it down to date nerves, considering it being such a momentous one, adulthood and all that.

It was then that Lena noticed the beautiful pendant her girlfriend had around her neck.

“Oh Andrea! That necklace is beautiful, I’ve never seen you wear it before.” Lena’s eyes were wide and her smile was huge.

“oh uh thank you. yeah my um grandmother gave it to me a couple weeks ago, do you want a closer look?” she unclasped the necklace and passed it across the table to Lena.

The necklace was stunning. It had a long thin black rope and a thick stone hanging at the bottom. The stone was a rich purple colour and it was wrapped in thin gold wire that caught the light in the most alluring way.

As Andrea dropped in into her palm Lena’s vision completely disappeared and there was a flash of white. She squeezed her eyes shut and a bolt of something sharp shot through her head. When Lena opened her eyes again she was no longer in the charming little Italian restaurant, instead she looked around and found herself in a familiar bedroom, Andrea’s bedroom.

_What the-_

The sound of two voices caused her head to whip round at lightning speed.

The first person was Andrea, but there was a girl sitting next to her on the bed. She had bright eyes and wild curly blonde hair and her cheeks were going pinker by the second. Lena recognised the girl from one of her university classes.

“I uh, I bought you this” the shorter girl handed Andrea the divine necklace.

Andrea gasped, saying nothing she lifted her hair and twisted so the girl could wrap the black thread around her neck and fasten the clasp for her.

_Is that Eve Tessmacher?_

Before Lena could do or say anything, Andrea leaned forward, stroked her thumb along the other girl’s jawline and pressed her lips against Eve’s. The short blonde girl melted into it, kissing Andrea back and threading her hands into her thick dark hair.

She felt her heart drop into her stomach.

_No no no no this can’t be real_

Lena felt a hand shaking her shoulder and she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could. When she opened them again Andrea had a hand on her shoulder and was looking at her with concern.

“hey are you okay? You totally fazed out there for a while?” Lena looked at her, then looked around, she was back in the restaurant and the necklace was sitting in the palm of her hand.

She looked back up at Andrea in disbelief, “what the fuck?”

“Lena? What is going on? What’s wrong with you?” Andrea was frowning at her now.

“did you kiss Eve? The girl from my biotechnology class?” Lena’s voice shook slightly, and she dropped the necklace onto the table.

“don’t be ridiculous Lena of course I didn’t.” Andrea gulped and easily readable guilt flooded her face.

“don’t lie to me!” Lena shouted, slamming her palms onto the table and glaring straight at her girlfriend, drawing the attention of the few other restaurant goers and staff members in the process.

“I- “ Andrea spluttered but was unable to form any sort of sentence before Lena cut in again.

“I saw you. You were on your bed, she gave you that necklace and then you kissed her” her voice no longer shook, it was cold, hard and calm. Remembering the ways Lillian taught her to control her anger, Lena pushed her chair back, straightened her back and shoulders, stood up and walked straight out the door. She felt the eyes of every single person in the restaurant watching her as she left but she kept her chin high and walked faster than she ever had before towards a nearby park, then sat on a bench under a tree.

When she was sure she was alone, Lena dropped her head into her heads, felt her chest tighten and let out a gut-wrenching sob, that tore through her. Her whole body wracked with an onslaught of tears and she stayed that way for what felt like hours.

As the tears petered out, she wiped her cheeks with shaking hands and took a deep breath, looking up at the clear night sky. The twinkling of the stars reminded her of the way the light danced off the necklace from before and then another thought struck her;

_What the fuck just happened._

Her mind had cleared for barely a second before her thoughts were racing once again. She could not for the life of her work out how she saw what she saw, how she had managed to see her girlfriend-

_Ex-girlfriend_

kissing someone else.

\--

When she got home that evening she stayed up all night scouring the internet to try and explain what had happened to her. Every result said things like psychic powers, but Lena didn’t believe it, she was a woman of science and logic, she didn’t believe in magic.

Eventually Lena passed out in the early hours of the morning and didn’t wake until 1pm.

Lena needed someone to help her, someone to confide in, but the only person she trusted had lied to her.

She decided to contact the last known blood relative she had. Her biological mother’s mother. Her grandmother.

She hadn’t seen her grandmother since she was incredibly small, but it was worth a try, she didn’t trust Lillian at all and as much as she loved Lex, she knew he wouldn’t understand.

So she wrote a letter and sent it off to Ireland that afternoon.

\--

She received a reply two weeks later.

_Dearest Lena,_

_How wonderful it is to hear from you! You don’t know how much I long to see you again, you must be so tall now, I do so hope you are well._

_My love your letter sounded urgent, and I understand you may feel scared and alone but do not fret, everything you are feeling is perfectly normal. Ah my Lutessa, you must be eighteen now, gosh how the time flies! I did wonder whether you would inherit the marvellous gift that our women are so blessed to have._

_See, the women in our family come from a long line of clear seeing clairvoyants. When you turn eighteen you are granted the ability to see or have visions that are presented to you in the Mind’s eye whenever you are touching a personal item that has seen a heavy or a great deal of memories. We see these visions as mental flashes which include people, scenes, places, objects, spirit, symbols and colours. Your darling mother also had this ability, as do I, and my mother, and her mother and so on._

_With my letter I have sent you your mother’s clairvoyance journal. It should help you to understand, control and use your gift in whatever way you choose._

_Be brave my girl, you are made of stardust._

_Grandma x_

“oh my god” she whispered under her breath.

Lena wiped away a tear that she hadn’t even realised was falling.

She folded up the letter and picked up the small parcel, ripping off the brown paper to reveal a dark leather journal. Its edges were weathered, and the pages were sticking out in odd directions slightly. It had a thin leather band that wrapped around the book to keep it closed and tied into a small knot at the side. On the front of the journal her mother’s name was scribed into the leather and Lena gently traced the word, feeling the softness of the cover under her skin.

She let out a soft sigh, flopped back onto her bed, and opened the journal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry lena :(  
> also lemme know if y'all get the lil comics reference i slipped in there  
> twitter - @hskendricklwt


End file.
